Ronald Koeman believes he has the backing of Farhad Moshiri and Bill Kenwright despite Everton’s dire start to the season.

With many predicting that Koeman’s time as Everton boss is potentially coming to an end in the next few weeks, the Dutch boss says he's spoken with Moshiri and Kenwright when they visited Finch Farm in the past few days to see the completion of a new building and said the pair have full confidence in the team.

Speaking in his pre-Lyon match press conference, Koeman said: “Yes he (Moshiri) was here with Bill Kenwright and more people from the board because they hadn’t seen the new building.

“You speak about football of course.”

The 54-year-old went on to add: “There wasn’t really a message. They are behind the team and the manager. In football that’s a nice thing but in football it’s all about results” - before stating - “until now it’s total support from the board, yes.”

Pressure and frustration has manifested towards Koeman and his squad due to a lack of results in the start of Premier League season and in the Europa League campaign.

The Blues are winless in three games and face an extremely difficult test against Lyon on Thursday night with the place in the Europa League on the brink.

Koeman is Moshiri’s man

When Farhad Moshiri became Everton’s majority shareholder, Roberto Martinez’s time as boss was all but over. The Iranian born businessman backed the Catalan boss but ultimately had to let him go following similarly dire results and pressure from the fans.

Whilst a number of protests against Martinez came from the Goodison Park stands and his sides were booed off almost every week, Koeman has yet to reach that point.

Yet the Dutch boss is routinely criticised on social media for his team selections and being seemingly unable to find a way for his side to win games.

Patience had been granted due to Everton’s extremely difficult start to the season but performances have not been up to par.

Koeman finds himself as the first manager chosen by Moshiri to lead his Everton project and the former Arsenal minority shareholder may be more lenient with the Dutch boss as to not a set a troublesome precedent going forward.

As shown with plenty of other Premier League clubs, constant hiring and firing of managers rarely works and more times than not, it leads to instability and in plenty of cases - relegation to the Sky Bet Championship.

That is something no one at Everton wants.

However, a lack of results and effort on the pitch can only go so far before the board possibly has to act on Koeman’s future.

Getting fans on side

Koeman hasn’t lost the fanbase as a whole but he has lost a vocal part of the Goodison Park. It’s also unlikely he’s won over those who doubted him from the start.

The Dutch boss can win some support and confidence back if he starts to pick up results quickly. Whilst there isn’t much evidence of this Everton side looking like they’re going to turn a corner anytime soon, Thursday night’s game against Lyon could provide a springboard for the following few games.

Everton host Arsenal on Sunday afternoon before heading south to take on Chelsea in the Carabao Cup.

If Koeman can get two wins in this weeks two home games, he may find a few more supporters on his side.

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About the author
Connor Bennett
Everton editor for VAVEL UK - contributing since 2015. Premier League accredited journalist. Journalism graduate from Liverpool. Writing about Football, eSports and the NFL. Email: [email protected] | Twitter: ConnorBennett14